Actually it's about routing the lead from a dynamo hub What's the consensus about whether to run the lead on the front or rear of the fork or doesn't it really matter? I'm thinking that any stones that may get thrown up would be more likely to be striking the rear.
A secondary question. The dynamo in question is an SP, how do you seal the gap where the wires enter the connector? The two small holes on the left hand part in the image below. If the raised part around the hole was longer and ribbed then you could use heat shrink tubing.
The "design" of the connector fails in another way - no strain relief. Guess who stripped the wires out of his wife's dynamo connector when removing her front wheel?
Better weight than wisdom, a traveller cannot carry
I run the wires on the rear of the leg. No real reason, I simply find that's usually their natural course.
Either a little silicone sealer or some vaseline will seal the holes Bob. A smear of vaseline round the connector body where it goes onto the hub doesn't go amiss either.
The "design" of the connector fails in another way - no strain relief. Guess who stripped the wires out of his wife's dynamo connector when removing her front wheel?
Story of my life ... someone f*cks up and it's somehow my fault
Rich at KP fitted mine and ran it up the back so I'd assume that's the right way. It's lasted (so far) three and a half years without snapping or failing from water damage.
By contrast the Igaro which was fitted by a rank amateur ( ) to my hardtail didn't even last one day before the cable snapped.
What fork? Most rigid fork either have holes at the bottom (assume as part of the welding process) which can be enlarged carefully to allow the wire up the inside of the leg and out where it meets the steerer tube. Nice and neat. Suspension fork, I run mine up the right leg, over the arch and up the brake cable to stop it hanging loos and getting snagged.
Never bothered sealing the plug holes, can't see it making any difference.
The dynamo in question is an SP, how do you seal the gap where the wires enter the connector?
Some silicone would do it as suggested but it's not really intended to be sealed and so far I've not had any experience that suggests it's needed. Almost 4 years of year-round use on an unsealed connector, no problems. A short-circ will stop the light coming on though so maybe not a bad cover-all move. Do many do this, sealing them up?
The "design" of the connector fails in another way - no strain relief. Guess who stripped the wires out of his wife's dynamo connector when removing her front wheel?
That sort of is the strain relief isn't it? The wires can pull out of the connector easily, rather than breaking the wire itself. You just pop the connector open and put the wires back in. If the tips of the wires are solder-sealed it's easy to do (have done this myself a couple of times... once in the dark at 11pm. Headtorch on, 2 mins fiddle, all sorted). I guess you could use a couple of spade connectors just up the wire to create a break-away point instead.
The dynamo in question is an SP, how do you seal the gap where the wires enter the connector?
Some silicone would do it as suggested but it's not really intended to be sealed and so far I've not had any experience that suggests it's needed. Almost 4 years of year-round use on an unsealed connector, no problems. A short-circ will stop the light coming on though so maybe not a bad cover-all move. Do many do this, sealing them up?
The "design" of the connector fails in another way - no strain relief. Guess who stripped the wires out of his wife's dynamo connector when removing her front wheel?
That sort of is the strain relief isn't it? The wires can pull out of the connector easily, rather than breaking the wire itself. You just pop the connector open and put the wires back in. If the tips of the wires are solder-sealed it's easy to do (have done this myself a couple of times... once in the dark at 11pm. Headtorch on, 2 mins fiddle, all sorted). I guess you could use a couple of spade connectors just up the wire to create a break-away point instead.
Stu has already mentioned using a smidge of vaseline, which is a sensible precaution. Shimano's Nexus dynamo connector (of which the SP is a direct copy) has a small blob of vaseline sitting in the connector when you get it out of the box.
Using anything more sealing than that would make it a pain in the bum to re-fit when you inevitably pull the cables through while sorting out a puncture in the middle of a dark night in the rain, which is why silicon would be a no-no for me. As James says, it's a 2 minute fiddle to refit if left alone.
What's the consensus about whether to run the lead on the front or rear of the fork or doesn't it really matter? I'm thinking that any stones that may get thrown up would be more likely to be striking the rear.
) to my hardtail didn't even last one day before the cable snapped. 